In general, refrigerators are home appliances for storing foods at a low temperature in an inner storage space covered by a door. That is, since a refrigerator cools the inside of a storage space by using cool air generated through heat-exchange with a refrigerant circulating a refrigeration cycle, foods stored in the storage space may be stored in a cooled state.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example prior art refrigerator, and FIG. 2 illustrates an example cool air circulation state inside the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 and an ice making compartment.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 includes a cabinet 10 defining a storage space and doors 20 and 30 mounted on the cabinet 10. An outer appearance of the refrigerator 1 may be defined by the cabinet 10 and the doors 20 and 30.
The storage space within the cabinet 10 is vertically partitioned by a barrier 11. A refrigerating compartment 12 is defined in the partitioned upper side, and a freezing compartment 13 is defined in the partitioned lower side.
The doors 20 and 30 include a refrigerating compartment door 20 for opening or closing the refrigerating compartment 12 and a freezing compartment door 30 for opening or closing the freezing compartment 13. Also, the refrigerating compartment door 20 includes a pair of doors disposed on left and right sides thereof. The pair of doors includes a first refrigerating compartment door 21 and a second refrigerating compartment door 22 disposed on a right side of the first refrigerating compartment door 21. The first refrigerating compartment door 21 and the second refrigerating compartment door 22 independently rotate with respect to each other.
The freezing compartment door 30 may be provided as a slidably accessible door. The freezing compartment door 30 may be vertically provided in plurality. The freezing compartment door 30 may be provided as one door as desired.
A dispenser 23 for dispensing water or ice is disposed in one of the first refrigerating compartment door 21 and the second refrigerating compartment door 22. For example, a structure in which the dispenser 23 is disposed in the first refrigerating compartment door 21 is illustrated in FIG. 1.
An ice making compartment 40 for making and storing ice is defined in the first refrigerating compartment door 21. The ice making compartment 40 is provided as an independent insulation space. The ice making compartment 40 may be opened or closed by an ice making compartment door 41. An ice maker for making ice may be provided within the ice making compartment 40. Also, components for storing made ice or dispensing the made ice through the dispenser 23 may be provided in the ice making compartment 40.
In addition, the cool air duct 50 for supplying cool air into the ice making compartment 40 and recovering the cool air from the ice making compartment 40 is disposed in a side wall of the cabinet 10. Also, a cool air inlet 42 and a cool air outlet 43 which communicate with the cool air duct 50 when the first refrigerating compartment door 21 is closed are provided in a surface of the ice making compartment 40. Cool air introduced into the cool air inlet 42 cools the inside of the ice making compartment 40 to make ice. Then, the heat-exchanged cool air is discharged to the outside of the ice making compartment 40 through the cool air outlet 43.
A heat exchange chamber 14 partitioned from the freezing compartment 13 is defined in a rear side of the freezing compartment 13. An evaporator is provided in the heat exchange chamber 14. Cool air generated in the evaporator may be supplied into the freezing compartment 13, the refrigerating compartment 12, and the ice making compartment 40 to cool the inside of each of the freezing compartment 13, the refrigerating compartment 12, and the ice making compartment 40.
In some implementations, the cool air duct 50 communicates with the heat exchange chamber 14 and the freezing compartment 13. Thus, cool air within the heat exchange chamber 14 is introduced into the ice making compartment 40 through a supply passage 51 of the cool air duct 50. Also, cool air within the ice making compartment 40 is recovered into the freezing compartment 13 through a recovery passage 52 of the cool air duct 50. Further, ice is made and stored within the ice making compartment 40 by continuous circulation of the cool air through the cool air duct 50.
In the refrigerator having the above-described structure, the making and storage of ice are performed within the ice making compartment 40 provided in the refrigerating compartment 20, which may increase a volume of the refrigerating compartment door 20. Thus, an accommodation space defined in a back surface of the refrigerating compartment door 20 may be reduced.
Also, since cool air for making ice should be supplied up to the ice making compartment, power consumption may increase.